Thailand south attacks wound 3 and damage rail tracks

Dozens of coordinated arson and incendiary attacks across Thailand's insurgency-hit south late Saturday wounded three civilians, damaged government property and disrupted part of a rail route, authorities said.

Thailand's military Internal Security Operations Command said 51 incidents occurred from about 8:00 pm to midnight across the southern border provinces. Most were in Narathiwat province, where authorities imposed an overnight curfew, while other attacks took place in neighbouring Yala and Pattani provinces.

Provincial officials said two women, aged 45 and 46, and a 21-year-old man were wounded in a roadside bombing in Narathiwat. All three were hospitalised in stable condition.

Multiple local government offices and several vehicles were damaged or destroyed, according to ISOC and an AFP journalist. Thai PBS footage showed firefighters putting out burning tyres on a road and flames inside a 7-Eleven convenience store, while police stopped motorists for security checks.

ISOC said the national railway operator temporarily suspended part of a route in Narathiwat after officials found track damage caused by a bombing incident. Narathiwat Governor Boonchuay Homyamyen told local media that authorities were investigating sites including a local government office, telecommunications towers and electrical poles.

ISOC said a vehicle was stolen from a subdistrict administrative organisation office in Narathiwat during one attack that left the building in flames. The burned-out pickup truck was later found abandoned on a road.

No group has claimed responsibility.

At a municipal office in Pattani province damaged in another attack, southern regional army commander Norathip Poinok said Sunday that the assailants had aimed to destroy the building and undermine public trust in the state. He said the military had intelligence reports for about two months that there would be attacks on local offices and had warned security agencies, but did not know when or where the assaults would occur.

Since 2004, more than 7,000 people have been killed in a low-level conflict in Thailand's southernmost provinces, where rebels in the Muslim-majority region have fought for greater autonomy.